Reactions to story from Comments from Left Field

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  28 March - RSS from Netvibes

  http://my.opera.com/oldephartte/blog/show.dml/1848803
  44 days ago in Opit's Linkfest - by John · Authority: 19

  Palestinians fear two-tier road system ( Note the roads are reserved for Israeli use - in Palestine ) Who do you want to own your candidate ? Comments from Left Field Bob Casey to endorse Obama North Korea reinstates "missile tests for unbridled attention" Say it ain't so ( Gravel ) Obama's speech on the economy What's up with Bloomberg and Obama ? The super delegates are watching Rubber and glue - Controversy hits both camps Dan Drinker endorses Obama The Southern Surge Dear Susan UnPC : Got your white hood on ? Bad Timing ( Report on the "war" ) Brain breaker of the day - Why is fighting up ? Because the Surge ( TradeMark ) was such a success What really happened in Bosnia ( Unsuitable for kids - and some adults ! ) Is a Unity ticket really the only way ? The enemy of my enemy ( with shiny new updates ) ................................................. Social media for the Vietnam War Memorial US military a cartoon in 'Stop Loss' Security forces on full alert for tense Zimbabwe vote Criminality part of North Korea's survival strategy Caught in a vicious cycle of violence Somalia sinks into greater violence as Islamist insurgents gain ground ( They just run around the dead and ask them their religion and politics . More PsyOps drivel. ) Six weeks worth of mail greets Canadian gunners in Kandahar Nigeria : Fuel shortage hits Kano Tibetan students enter UN compound in Nepal ( Time for milk and cookies and a pat on the head. ) Britain's biggest bank robbery Canada helps resolve fib that would have thwarted cattle shipments to Mexico Users petition Microsoft to save XP Expert says Canada could be breaking international law if terror suspect deported ( Tortured people will swear up and down the moon is made of green cheese if that is wanted. That's not 'evidence'. ) Southeast drought eases, but concerns remain Social context induced song variation alters female behavior and gene expression
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  Who Do You Want To "Own" Your Candidate?

  http://journals.aol.com/sazzylilsmartazz/TheConscientiousObj...
  45 days ago in The Conscientious Objector · Authority: 72

  Who Do You Want To "Own" Your Candidate? By Kyle E. Moore | March 27, 2008 The big money people behind Hillary Clinton are apparently not very thrilled with Speaker Pelosi. Pelosi, who recently said that Super Delegates should not overturn the pledged delegate leader for the nomination, received a letter from top Clinton donors admonishing the Speaker and asking her to “clarify” her statement, and stay out of the fight. While the letter itself is pretty tame, it’s difficult not to interpret the underlying subtext to read, “We paid for this party, do our will.” Greg Sargent has the full letter. The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the US House of Representatives Office of the Speaker H-232, US Capitol Washington, DC 20515 Dear Madame Speaker, As Democrats, we have been heartened by the overwhelming response that our fellow Democrats have shown for our party’s candidates during this primary season. Each caucus and each primary has seen a record turnout of voters. But this dynamic primary season is not at an end. Several states and millions of Democratic voters have not yet had a chance to cast their votes. We respect those voters and believe that they, like the voters in the states that have already participated, have a right to be heard. None of us should make declarative statements that diminish the importance of their voices and their votes. We are writing to say we believe your remarks on ABC News This Week on March 16th did just that. During your appearance, you suggested super-delegates have an obligation to support the candidate who leads in the pledged delegate count as of June 3rd , whether that lead be by 500 delegates or 2. This is an untenable position that runs counter to the party’s intent in establishing super-delegates in 1984 as well as your own comments recorded in The Hill ten days earlier: “I believe super-delegates have to use their own judgment and there will be many equities that they have to weigh when they make the decision. Their own belief and who they think will be the best president, who they think can win, how their own region voted, and their own responsibility.’” Super-delegates, like all delegates, have an obligation to make an informed, individual decision about whom to support and who would be the party’s strongest nominee. Both campaigns agree that at the end of the primary contests neither will have enough pledged delegates to secure the nomination. In that situation, super-delegates must look to not one criterion but to the full panoply of factors that will help them assess who will be the party’s strongest nominee in the general election. We have been strong supporters of the DCCC. We therefore urge you to clarify your position on super-delegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the National Convention in August. We appreciate your activities in support of the Democratic Party and your leadership role in the Party and hope you will be responsive to some of your major enthusiastic supporters. Sincerely, Marc Aronchick Clarence Avant Susie Tompkins Buell Sim Farar Robert L. Johnson Chris Korge Marc and Cathy Lasry Hassan Nemazee Alan and Susan Patricof JB Pritzker Amy Rao Lynn de Rothschild Haim Saban Bernard Schwartz Stanley S. Shuman Jay Snyder Maureen White and Steven Rattner What seems particularly disturbing to me, though, is not merely the attempt to extort Super Delegate support with Democrat cash cow money, but the attempt to strong arm over pledged delegates. Remember, pledged delegates, by Democratic party rules, can change their vote as well, no one is denying this. But to even come close to actually doing such a thing outside an honest to goodness brokered convention is destructive and suicidal. If we’re talking about the potential for Super Delegates to break the party by overturning the pledged delegate leader, imagine the pandemonium that stealing pledged delegates would cause. What makes this different, though, from the rest of the Clinton campaign’s pleas to try and make the delegate hunt an anything goes game is that this is not coming from her campaign directly, but instead as a near extortion threat from her most high powered donors. And just who are these people? As Jon Aravosis points out, about a third of them were overnighters at the Lincoln bedroom during the Clinton Administration, and Matt Stoller points out that seven were heavy donors for Joe Lieberman during his 2006 run as an independent. We also learn that Chris Korge is a Miami based lobbyist to the aviation industry, while Matthew Yglesias reported last year that media mogul and major telecom player, Haim Saban, is a neoconservative leading donor who was particularly generous to Democrats back in 2001 and 2002 when many supported going to war with Iraq. Sim Farar, Hassan Nemazee, also were given plum appointments by the Clinton administrations (or were at least nominated) while Robert Johnson, as I’m sure you all remember, was the high level Clinton surrogate who attacked Obama over drug use and implied that he might have been a drug dealer. Kos diarist, Slinkerwink, did the quick math and discovered that these people have given almost $26 million to the DCCC. What I find particularly interesting, though, is a contrast between these high powered donors, and the well over a million small sum donors that Obama brings to the table, and the fact that they have allowed Obama to outstrip Hillary in fundraising the whole time through. It kind of makes you want to ask the question, who do you want funding your candidate? The few powerful people who are using extortion to get their way, or us? Who Do You Want To Own Your Candidate? » Comments from Left Field Tags: Donors, Pledged Delegates, US Politics, Electoral College, Hillary Clinton, Hillary For President NOT, Barack Obama, Obama For President, Democratic National Party, Republicans For Obama, Election 2008, Super Delegates, Politics, Hillary Clinton Lies, Bill Clinton, NAFTA, John McCain, Nancy Pelosi, Political Extortion

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